A seminar by Irene Fassi STIIMA-CNR
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Robo-ethics is a new scientific discipline dealing with the ethical implications arising in the interaction between a human and a machine. This topic has been dealt of in many utopian and dystopian stories and movies, since the first robots came on stage in Capek’s play in 1921, but only in recent years, as the degree of autonomy of actual robots and robotic machines increased, robo-ethics has become an academic discipline.
Indeed, the widespread distribution of robots with increased autonomy, self-reliance and decision making capabilities is raising several completely new ethical, legal, and social concerns. For example, what happens if something goes wrong? Could a robot be taken to court? Who is legally liable if an autonomous vehicle or a care-robot makes a mistake?
These topics have been recently addressed also by the European Parliament, who in 2017 adopted the Resolution on civil Law Rules on Robotics, which contains recommendations to the Commission for defining a legal framework for the civilian use of robots and artificial intelligence technology. In 2021 the European Commission elaborated a proposal for the released a legislative proposal on this subject. This initiative is now under discussion. This seminar will discuss some of the abovementioned topics, firstly providing a definition of this discipline and then discussing some of the typical ethical concerns arising in various industrial or civilian scenarios.